Those affected by Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez’ various statements and announcements pertaining to the enforcement by Comelec of election laws, rules and regulations should not take them personally but should consider the fact that Jimenez is merely performing his task – to speak what the COMELEC says it is.
Unless rebuff by the Comelec, whatever Jimenez says is Comelec’s position or policy on a particular issue.
But observing from a distance how Jimenez performed such job, I can’t help but admire him for the consistency of his statement and how he defends and articulates with conviction the position of the Comelec, however hard or controversial they may be. In a word, he knows what he is talking about and he could only do it because, for sure, he studies the applicable election laws, rules and regulations.
I may not know him personally, but records show that he is a law graduate from the University of Sto. Tomas in year 2000. He has been the spokesperson of the Comelec since 2006 to the present that he is known as the “longest continuously serving spokesperson of any Philippine government institution (who) spearheaded the Comelec’s continued engagement with various social media, very early on establishing the Comelec as one of the first national government entities with a significant and dynamic social media presence. He also serves as the Chair of the Comelec’s Local Source Code Review Committee which ensures that the Source Code for Automated Election is reviewed by political parties, academic, and election watchdogs. ”[1]
Given all these qualifications, I am sure that Jimenez is a very good and competent public official who should be with the Comelec as one of its Commissioners bringing with him his wide knowledge and experience on how the Comelec functions.
He may not be a lawyer, but Section 1, Article IX-C of the Constitution merely requires that “a majority” of the Comelec Commissioners, including the Chairman, shall be lawyers with at least ten (10) years law practice and the rest could be “holders of a college degree.” This makes Jimenez highly qualified to be a Commissioner of the Comelec considering that he is even a holder of a law degree.
If President Duterte is still scouting around for replacements of Comelec Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Anthonio Kho, who was recently appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, he has a very good and excellent choice in the person of James Jimenez. And if Jimenez becomes a Comelec Commissioner he will have more authority to speak for the Comelec.
